power collaboration

Title of Ebook Goes Here

Pamela Slim

Subtitle/Short DeScription GoeS beneath

Power Collaboration:

Pamela Slim

toolS, t ipS anD reSourceS for SharinG

iDeaS, leaDinG teamS anD Get tinG thinGS

Done

POWER COLLABORATION © Pamela Slim

Table of ContentsIntroduction

The Four Principles of Collaboration

Principle 1: CLARIFY vision, purpose, roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and ownership

partnerShip checkliSt

Principle 2: RESPECT skills, strengths, communication styles and humanity of fellow collaborators

communication anD conative St yleS

coll aboration over competition

Principle 3: SIMPLIFY information sharing

DreaDeD meetinGS

Work With the SyStemS you have

Principle 4: COMMUNICATE in timely, relevant and consistent intervals

commit to the truth

the poWer of viDeo meetinGS

coll aboratinG With Global teamS

poWer coll aboration in Short

about the author

about GotomeetinG

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Introduction

At my last “real job” at Barclay’s Global Investors sixteen years ago, (before becoming a consultant and entrepreneur), I listened to one

of our senior analysts talk about financial trends.

“I keep hearing people say ‘the world is getting more global every day,’” he said. “I thought the world has always been global!”

I feel the same way about collaboration. Since the beginning of time, we have shared ideas and built things with other people.

But there is something different about collaboration in the 21st century.

Resources are tight. Work never stops. Email is crushing and we are always connected to the Internet with our smartphones.

It feels like we are interacting with more and more people every day. And we know more about them than we ever did.

In the past, you may have worked with George from Accounting and never known a thing about him besides the quality of his recon-

ciled financial statements.

Now, because you follow George on Facebook and Twitter, you know that his cat recently had surgery, and he is a Bruce Springsteen

fan, and he is obsessed with finding the perfect bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup.

And yet, knowing more about people is not really collaborating.

So what is collaboration?

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For the purpose of this short book, I like a nice simple definition, like:

“Collaboration is working with others to share ideas, skills and strengths while building something useful.”

With this definition, collaboration can be as simple as sharing ideas via file

sharing, instant messaging, doing a quick poll on social media, or as com-

plex as long-term joint ventures and business partnerships.

I have done it all: artistic collaborations, joint ventures, meeting facilitation,

large, complex global change management projects, and online commu-

nity building.

When done well, it is a joyful experience.

When done poorly, it is laborious, ineffective and even painful.

I want to show you what I think leads to great collaboration.

WebSter’S Dictionary

DefineS coll aboration aS:

1: to work jointly with others or together

especially in an intellectual endeavor

2: to cooperate with or willingly assist an

enemy of one’s country, especially an occu-

pying force

3: to cooperate with an agency or instru-

mentality with which one is not immediately

connected

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The Four Principles of Collaboration

I am a fan of the musicals of the 1930s, where Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney look at each other and say, “Let’s put on a show!” A

few scenes later, without any actual rehearsals, the entire town is singing and tap dancing in perfect rhythm.

We may have come a long way from the 1930’s cinema (we graduated to YouTube musical wedding proposals), but we still underesti-

mate the amount of planning, coordination and practice that it takes to create something great with other people.

The following four principles will make your collaborations more enjoyable, with less conflict and better results.

Try to think of them not as rigid rules, but rather as supportive guidelines. Depending on the size of your project, and the culture of

your organization, these principles will play out very differently.

the four principles are:

1. CLARIFY vision, purpose, roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and ownership

2. RESPECT the skills, strengths, communication styles and humanity of fellow collaborators

3. SIMPLIFY information sharing

4. COMMUNICATE in timely, relevant and consistent intervals

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Principle 1: CLARIFY vision, purpose, roles, responsibilities, accountabilities and ownership

Have you ever kicked off a project with excitement, only to get bogged

down a few weeks later when things fall apart?

At this moment, you hear utterances like:

I thought ___ was taking care of that!

Everyone knows that ____ is part of a project!

But I thought you were doing that!

I thought you knew when the project was due!

Establish clarity at the very beginning of a collaborative project.

hoW to create cl arit y in

coll aboration

Define the following:

vision – What will the successful project

look and feel like?

purpose – What great thing will happen to

(the intended audience) when this project is

done?

roles – Which person is overseeing each

specific area of the project?

responsibility – Which specific tasks are

part of each area of responsibility?

accountability – Which heads will roll if this

is not done?

ownership – Who owns the intellectual

property created in this collaboration?

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partnerShip checkliSt

Kyle Durand is an experienced entrepreneur, Navy Commander and

post-doctorate tax attorney based in Seattle, WA.

Through his years of practice, he has seen every type of partnership prob-

lem, and from these experiences, he advises collaborators to be very frank

and proactive about setting up clear written agreements.

He developed this Partnership Checklist to work through at the very be-

ginning of a project. It applies to short-term joint ventures as well as long-

term business partnerships.

partnerShip checkliSt –

Discuss and get the following agreements

in writing

1. Name of the partnership

2. Specific business purpose of the partner-

ship

3. The duration of the partnership – perpet-

ual/until a specific date/until the purpose of

the partnership is fulfilled

4. Partnership work locations

5. The property to be contributed to the

partnership by each partner and the manner

of contribution

1. Cash and cash equivalents–Outright

transfer/deferred/loan

2. Services–specific services/contribu-

tion of profits

3. Tangible property–Outright transfer/

loan of property

4. Intangible property–Ownership trans-

fer/use-only transfer

(continued)

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6. Ownership of assets

1. How will the assets be held or titled?

2. Authority of partners to use/dispose of assets

3. Disposition of assets at the conclusion of the

partnership

1. Cash

2. Tangible property

3. Intellectual property

7. Financial

1. How will money be held, brought in and paid out?

2. Accountings–periodic and/or upon request by partner

8. The rights and obligations to profits, losses, draws and

salaries

9. Management responsibilities

1. Specific duties

2. Manner in which management decisions will be made

10. Outside business activities

1. Permitted

2. Restricted

3. Permitted, except for direct competition

11. Changes to the joint venture

1. How will new partners be admitted?

2. Right of the partners to assign their interest in the

venture

3. Right to expel a partner

4. Buy-sell provisions for departing partner

5. Termination of the partnership

For more legal resources and information from Kyle Durand,

visit kyledurand.com

partnerShip checkliSt (continued)

While it takes a bit of time to clarify vision, purpose,

roles, responsibilities, accountability and ownership,

it will make the collaboration much more enjoyable

and effective in the long term.

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http://www.kyledurand.com/


Principle 2: RESPECT skills, strengths, communication styles and humanity of fellow collaborators

Great collaborations involve people who bring unique skills and perspec-

tives. In order to help these diverse people work well together, you must

understand what makes them tick, what makes them unique, and what

motivates them.

Here are some tools for discovering the skills and strengths of your collab-

oration team members.

Brandi Holmes, David Hrostoski, Max Mendoza, Mike Hrostoski and Mike

Ambassador Bruny at the Power Boost Live conference in Phoenix, AZ.

articul ate your SkillS anD

StrenGthS

I am at my best when…

My strongest skills are…

My superpower is…

I need help with…

I get totally derailed when…

I do not tolerate…

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communication anD conative St yleS

There are many useful and effective assessments for understanding com-

munication styles and core personality types. Meyers-Briggs and the DiSC

Profile are two that I have used a lot in both individual coaching and group

settings.

But the best tool I have found for increasing positive collaboration is the

kolbe index. According to the Kolbe website:

“The Kolbe Index measures a person’s instinctive method of operation (MO), and identifies the ways he or she will be most productive.”

When you take the Kolbe Index A (available for a fee at http://www.kolbe.

com), you are given scores in each of these conative styles.

So you might find that if you are really high in Fact Finder and lower in

Quick Start, in order to make a decision or move forward with a project,

you need to take the time to carefully gather data and assess risks before

jumping head first into action.

the componentS of the

kolbe inDex – conative

St yleS

fact finder–the instinctive way we gather

and share information.

follow thru–the instinctive way we arrange

and design.

Quick Start–the instinctive way we deal with

risk and uncertainty.

implementor–the instinctive way we handle

space and tangibles.

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http://www.kolbe.com/home.cfm



communication anD conative St yleS (continued)

Conversely, if you are high in Quick Start, you may be able to jump into a new project with very little preparation.

Knowing the conative styles of different team members gives great insight into how to design your collaboration for action.

Learn more about the Kolbe index, including detailed descriptions of each of the conative styles here: http://www.kolbe.com

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coll aboration over competition

Gangplank is a bustling co-working site in Chandler, Arizona. The space is filled with software engineers, start-up companies and free-

lancers.

Collaboration is a huge value at Gangplank, described in their manifesto:

Members of Gangplank in Chandler, Arizona

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http://gangplankhq.com/


Gangplank Manifesto

We are a group of connected individuals and small businesses creating an economy of innovation and creativity. We

envision a new economic engine comprised of collaboration and community, in contrast to the silos and secrecy

left by the dependence on tourism and land development.

We have the talent. We just need to work together. Different environments need to overlap, to connect and to inter-

act in order to transform our culture. In order to create a sustainable community based on trust, we value:

• collaboration over competition

• community over agendas

• participation over observation

• doing over saying

• friendship over formality

• boldness over assurance

• learning over expertise

• people over personalities

This new economy cannot thrive without engaging the larger business, creative, entrepreneurial, governmental, and

technical communities together.

We believe that innovation breeds innovation. We will transform our culture into one supportive of the entrepreneur-

ial spirit, of risk taking, of pioneering into the unknown territories as the founders of our municipalities once did. This

requires education, entrepreneurship and creative workspaces.

We are Gangplank.

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Chris Conrey, co-founder of Vuurr, a startup based at Gangplank, says:

“the best way to illustrate how we live the value of collaboration is to see how we work every day. often, two or three small

companies at Gangplank are going after the same large contract. rather than carefully hold our cards, we support each other in

the process. if one company finds out a piece of information that is critical to the bid, they will share it with the others. in the long

run, this collaborative process makes us all better at what we do”“We care more about seeing each other succeed than we care about winning,” said Conrey. “that’s what makes Gangplank

work.”14


Principle 3: SIMPLIFY information sharing

Don’t make sharing information more complicated than creating content. If your information management system becomes too un-

wieldy or complex, it will get in the way of the actual work to be done.

Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup

When I worked on the $100 Business Forum, a collaboration with

author and entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau, we created an entire

training program on one online document.

At our first virtual meeting, we typed notes into the document. Then

we divvied up tasks, and fleshed out the general notes into learning

objectives, and a program outline. We expanded the outline into

lessons, and then typed individual lessons into the document.

Chris was on his quest to visit every country of the world (which he will complete in 2013!), so he would often write his lesson from a

plane or youth hostel halfway around the world.

Since we released one lesson a day on the website, our designer Reese Spykerman would pull the information from the document

online and format it into a nice-looking and well-designed web page.

The design process was simple to use, easy to update and cheap. We brought the program to market quickly, and were able to serve

450 entrepreneurs around the world.

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hoW to chooSe toolS for S imple information

SharinG

When choosing communication tools for collaboration, it is hard to find

features that meet all the needs of the project. Before you dig into the

multitude of products and programs available, answer these three basic

questions:

Which tools do you use on a daily basis?

What will be the simplest way to move your project from notes

to a final product?

Which tool will be easiest for everyone to access from any-

where, including on a phone?

DreaDeD meetinGS

There are few conventions more loathed in modern business than poorly

run meetings.

Having been a management consultant for a decade, I know that meetings

consume far too much of our workdays. If we want to get serious about

true collaboration, we need to cut back all non-essential communication

so that time is spent on the fun stuff: building things.

“Many of my employees work from home,

so we use GoToMeeting with HDFaces

video conferencing for team meetings. With

this approach, everyone can see each oth-

er without the high cost of bringing them

together in person. We also use it for remote

collaboration on documents. It’s a very posi-

tive tool for the company.”

- Alicia Lahti, Owner of Alicia Lahti

Placement Services, Inc.

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DreaDeD meetinGS (continued)

Al Pittampalli, author of Read This Before Our Next Meeting (The Domino

Project, 2011), believes there is a better way. By coming up with very spe-

cific guidelines about meetings, he suggests you can cut down significant-

ly on the amount of time people are interrupted from their work.

7 principleS of the moDern

meetinG StanDarD from

Read This befoRe ouR nexT

meeTinG by al p it tampalli

1. Meet only to support a decision that has

already been made

2. Move fast. End on schedule.

3. Limit the number of attendees.

4. Reject the unprepared.

5. Produce committed action plans.

6. Refuse to be informational. Read the

memo, it is mandatory

7. Work with brainstorms, not against them.

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Work With the SyStemS you have

Desiree Adaway coordinates the assembly of emergency supplies for victims of

the Haiti earthquake, Photo by Robert Bromfield.

When an earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, there was mass devastation on

the ground. Emergency supplies were needed immediately.

At the time, Nonprofit Consultant Desiree Adaway was the Senior Di-

rector for Global Volunteer Mobilization for Habitat for Humanity. She

was given the task of coordinating a two-week effort to get 20,000

emergency kits made and shipped to Haiti, requiring 200 volunteers.

Kits included basic supplies for building temporary shelters, which

were needed until permanent structures could be built.

“We didn’t have time to create a big outreach campaign. We used the systems that we had, and leveraged our existing volunteer

networks. We put all the details on a simple web page so that volunteers would have all the information they needed to show up at

home Depot and get right to work.

in two weeks time, we were able to assemble and ship 20,000 kits to haiti. it was not a perfect system, but we made it work and

were very proud of our results.””

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Principle 4: COMMUNICATE in timely, relevant and consistent intervals

Trust is built through great communication.

Before a project starts:

1. Discuss your communication style and expectations

2. Choose your communication vehicles (phone calls, online meetings,

meetings, social workspaces)

3. Set communication frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)

key questions to answer to ensure great communication:

how do you like to communicate? (email, video conferencing,

phone, text)

how will we share information?

how do you like to get feedback?

What will you not tolerate?

how should we handle conflict?

“Two factors primarily drove my decision

to use GoToMeeting. First and foremost, it’s

the easiest web conferencing solution to

use. Second, GoToMeeting is the only

solution that really plays well with the Mac.

And it’s a great app on the iPad.”

- Simon Tucker, Chief Adoption Officer,

Anaplan, Inc.

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commit to the truth

Executive Coach Michele Woodward

I was in a joint venture partnership for two years with my colleague Michele Woodward. Michele

is a consultant and executive coach, and former White House staffer. She is talented, funny, and

smart. She is also a straight shooter when it comes to communication.

In the middle of a particularly busy season, Michele sent me a direct message on Twitter.

“You got a minute to talk?” said Michele. “Sure,” I said. So we jumped on a video conference.

“You know I love working with you, right Pam?” said Michele. “And I love working with you!” I said.

“Because I committed to always tell you the truth, I want you to know that I sense you are kind of distracted lately. Are you still com-

mitted to our project? If so, that’s great. And if not, that is great too. I just need to know which way it is, because we want to continue

to work together, we have to change the way that we communicate.”

While I felt bad that Michele sensed that my commitment was slipping (which it was not, I was just busy), I did not feel attacked, judged

or reprimanded. We had committed to being honest with each other, and this made discussing a sensitive issue straightforward and

relaxed.

When you practice this type of communication, you will avoid the build up of tension and resentment.

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the poWer of viDeo meetinGS

Video meetings are much more effective than the phone or email for es-

tablishing rapport and connection.

In a planning meeting with my Citrix partners, I learned that the uniform

for program managers is a gray sweater and orange scarf (they swear it

was not planned). We had a good laugh when we all saw each other on

screen, and this bit of connection made our relationship more open and

fun.

In-person meetings can be the best for establishing a personal connection,

but when that is not possible, video is the next best thing.

“GoToMeeting with HDFaces video con-

ferencing eliminates a lot of the barriers that

happen on impersonal conference calls.

Without video, people can put each other

on mute or do some other task, because

nobody knows. You lose a lot of productivity.

Now we know who’s paying attention. We

can see what people are doing.”

- Eliza A. Fendell, Senior Vice President,

Culture Aeropost Network

“I work with agents across the Caribbean

and South America, but traveling all the time

isn’t feasible. The ability to see the

expressions on people’s faces with HDFaces

video conferencing makes it seem as if I’m in

the country. For me, face-to-face interaction

is everything”

- Yvonne Kilborn, Project Manager

Aeropost Network

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coll aboratinG With Global teamS

Consultant Brian Shea

Many project teams are spread across the globe.

Brian Shea is a consultant who has spent most of his career managing large, technical projects

with global team members. When asked for input about how to foster collaboration with global

teams, he had some very specific advice:

how to foster collaboration in global teams:

Clear, actionable communication is important for all teams and it’s even more important for globally distributed

teams. Because of time zone differences, global teams can take days rather than hours to ask and address follow-up

questions. If your colleague works during your nighttime, it could take a full business day to answer a simple clarify-

ing question!

One way to address this issue is to anticipate and address questions in advance. For example, when sending email to

remote team members, think about the following items before sending your message:

1. What’s the deadline for completing the work?

2. Have you included all the links and supporting documents that the person needs to complete the work?

3. Who can the person contact in her time zone if she runs into technical issues?

4. Once the work is complete, what should the person do with the work? Send it to you? Pass it along to someone

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coll aboratinG With Global teamS (continued)

5. And the most important question of all: “If I were the person receiving this email, could I complete this task with

the information provided?” It can be worth taking 5 minutes and asking a colleague to read it and ask what questions

she would have if she received the message.

Some other thoughts:

1. Be concise: Long emails don’t get read! Forget paragraphs. Use bullets where possible.

2. Be specific: include time zones, date ranges and other details that the person needs to complete the work

accurately.

3. Don’t forget etiquette: Sometimes it can feel uncomfortable to be extremely specific in an email. It can feel rude,

like you’re ordering someone around. If you’re concerned about this, make it clear to the person that you’re being

specific to make everyone’s life easier, not to micromanage.

Examples:

not good (no deadlines, no contact person, not enough detail to complete the task):

hi John,

Can you run the december analytics reports for xYZ Corporation? Let me know if you have questions.

best,

brian

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coll aboratinG With Global teamS (continued)

Good (clear and actionable; relevant details are included):

hi John, Can you run the analytics reports for xYZ Corporation? here’s the info you’ll need.

1. Report details: run the december report (date range: dec 1 - dec 31, 2012), include all pages and subpages in

the report.

2. Report Location: you can run the reports from this link: [uRL]

3. Technical support: if you encounter any technical issues, contact Jessica in your office (email, phone #).

4. When you’re finished: please send the reports to sarah, the account manager from xYZ Corporation (email,

phone #)

5. deadline: sarah needs to reports by 5Pm eT on friday, Jan 11.

Find Brian at http://www.sheaconsulting.biz

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poWer coll aboration in Short

Following the four principles of effective collaboration should make your projects more enjoyable, effective, and productive. With the

right tools, capable team leaders, and clear project specifications, collaboration can work and feel like a dream. These days web-based

communication and project management tools are making collaboration easier than ever for teams who are often spread across time

and distance. As you continue collaborating, I would love to hear your ideas and insight!

Drop by http://www.facebook.com/pamslim or @pamslim on Twitter to share your collaboration tips and experiences with me.

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https://twitter.com/pamslim


about the author

Pamela Slim is an award-winning author, speaker and leader in the

new world of work. She spent the first 10 years of her solo prac-

tice as a consultant to large corporations such as Hewlett-Packard,

Charles Schwab, and Cisco Systems, where she worked with thou-

sands of employees, managers, and executives. In 2005, she started

the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog, which is now one of the top

career and business sites on the web. She has coached thousands of

budding entrepreneurs, in businesses ranging from martial art studios

to software start-ups.

Pam has been an active community builder since college, where she

majored in International Service and Development. She produced a

year-long cross cultural collaboration between Japanese and Brazil-

ian dance groups, co-founded a 250 participant at-risk youth martial

arts program, directed technology and change management projects

for more than 50,000 employees across the globe, and developed

and cultivated a passionate online community at her site Escape from Cubicle Nation.com.

Slim is frequently quoted as a business expert in the press: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Entre-

preneur, Information Week, Money Magazine, and Psychology Today. She was named one of the top 100 Women on Twitter. She is a

proud suburban mom in Mesa, AZ who enjoys the look on people’s faces when she tells them she is also a brown/black belt in Mixed

Martial Arts (it comes in handy when fighting for the last good bunch of kale at the grocery store).

Find Pam at http://www.pamelaslim.com

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about GotomeetinG

GoToMeeting is the extremely simple, extraordinarily powerful web conferencing service from Citrix. It integrates HD video conferenc-

ing, screen sharing, and audio conferencing, allowing you to collaborate effectively online in a face-to-face environment, hold unlim-

ited meetings for one low flat fee, and attend meetings from a Mac, PC and mobile devices. GoToMeeting will change the way you

work–and perhaps a whole lot more.

To learn more, visit www.gotomeeting.com

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power collaboration

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